Instrument Availability and Target Accessibility: 2006B

Instrument Availability and Target Accessibility: 2006B

The tables below
indicate the current best estimates of instrument availability and corresponding
target (RA, dec) accessibility for 2006B.

As there are more instruments than the number of available ports on each
telescope, and with the arrival of TEXES at Gemini North, and anticipated
arrival of NICI and
Flamingos-2 at Gemini South, instrument swaps will be required. Therefore not all instruments will be available for the entire semester.
The defined RA ranges combine possible instrument exchanges with best-guess
schedules. Where possible we have tried to minimize the restrictions to
applicants and thus it is possible that some targets or entire programs
might not be feasible when the final queue and schedule are assembled at
ITAC or thereafter.

Typically
several observations or programs are rejected at the ITAC each semester because
of target accessibility so please read carefully the
following notes:

For each given declination, the table shows the target RA that has
two hours above airmass = 2 at the start of the night early in the semester
("minimum" RA) and the target RA that has two hours above
airmass = 2 at the end of the night late in the semester ("maximum"
RA).

For some high and low declinations (noted *), an airmass limit of
2.5 is used.

If best image quality is desired, typically achieved at smaller
zenith distance, the RA range should be reduced appropriately.

The comments column indicates whether all RAs are potentially observable.

"no restriction" means that all RAs are potentially observable.

"restricted" means that only RAs between the
"minimum" and "maximum" would be observable given
the stated assumptions. Targets with RA less than the "minimum"
would set too early in
the night and targets with RA greater than the
"maximum" would rise too late.

At
the extrema of the RA range, shown by the early- and late-semester values, targets
may not be observable in practice
due to detailed instrument and engineering schedules and other
constraining factors (e.g. lunar phase). Moreover, the time for which
the target (RA, dec) is accessible may be very limited and applicants
should bear this in mind for faint targets. The likelihood of execution is greatly increased if
extreme RAs are avoided.

Gemini
North

Instrument(s)

declination
(deg)

RA range (hh
mm)

Comments

"minimum" RA
(early semester)

"maximum" RA
(late semester)

NIRI

GMOS North

80 *

no restriction

14h 50m

15h 50m

70

no restriction

15h 20m

15h 20m

60

no restriction

14h 40m

15h 50m

50

no restriction

14h 40m

16h 00m

40

no restriction

14h 30m

16h 10m

30

no restriction

14h 40m

16h 00m

20

no restriction

14h 50m

16h 00m

10

no restriction

15h 00m

15h 40m

0

no restriction

15h 10m

15h 30m

-10

restricted

15h 30m

15h 10m

-20

restricted

16h 00m

14h 40m

-30

restricted

16h 40m

14h 00m

-40 *

restricted

17h 00m

13h 40m

HIRES (on Keck)

all

restricted

Available for
two nights in 1-6 September, one night in 1-6 October and two nights in 6-11
December

NIFS

(will share up-looking port with Michelle and TEXES; expected to be
available in August, possibly into September, and then available again in
December and January)

80 *

no restriction

14h 50m

15h 50m

70

no restriction

15h 20m

15h 20m

60

no restriction

14h 40m

15h 50m

50

no restriction

14h 40m

16h 00m

40

no restriction

14h 30m

16h 10m

30

no restriction

14h 40m

16h 00m

20

no restriction

14h 50m

16h 00m

10

no restriction

15h 00m

15h 40m

0

no restriction

15h 10m

15h 30m

-10

restricted

15h 30m

15h 10m

-20

restricted

16h 00m

14h 40m

-30

restricted

16h 40m

14h 00m

-40 *

restricted

17h 00m

13h 40m

Michelle

(will share up-looking port with
NIFS and TEXES; expected to be
available from September until mid-November)

80 *

restricted

16h 50m

10h 50m

70

restricted

17h 20m

10h 20m

60

restricted

16h 40m

10h 50m

50

restricted

16h 40m

11h 00m

40

restricted

16h 30m

11h 10m

30

restricted

16h 40m

11h 00m

20

restricted

16h 50m

11h 00m

10

restricted

17h 00m

10h 40m

0

restricted

17h 10m

10h 30m

-10

restricted

17h 30m

10h 10m

-20

restricted

18h 00m

9h 40m

-30

restricted

18h 40m

9h 00m

-40 *

restricted

19h 00m

9h 40m

TEXES

(will share up-looking port with NIFS and Michelle; expected to be
available mid- to late-November only)